


Saudade

by kunstvogel



Category: Our Kind of Traitor (2016)
Genre: Family, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Illnesses, Introspection, Minor Character Death, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 05:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14664165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kunstvogel/pseuds/kunstvogel
Summary: Hector reflects on two significant times of illness in his family.





	Saudade

Sometime in the early spring when it was cold and rainy more often than not, little Edward Meredith had gone to bed with a tickle in his throat and woken up ill the next morning. He was laid up with fever and a cough and an ear infection for all of a week, and since Hector worked days and April worked nights he would stay up at night to care for the young boy, sleepless and upset as he was.

Edward had been a colicky baby, and never really grew out of it, blessed with an immune system that was only half of what it should have been. So he was ill often, but this particular time stayed with Hector for a reason he can't quite put words to. Edward had needed so much medicine; cough syrup and fever reducers, antibiotics for his ears, ibuprofen for the headaches that grew too bad to bear.

April was unconcerned, certain in her son's resilience, but Hector had been worried sick for his little boy. He was given leave from work after just two days, told to come back only when Edward was better. A few times, he'd fallen asleep in a chair he brought into Edward's room, a book resting in his lap. April scolded him lightly for worrying so much and kissed him sweetly.

Of course, Edward had gotten better after four or five days, his cough clearing up and his ears healing. He went back to school and returned with a week of homework to catch up on, and Hector helped him through it at the table after dinner while April cleaned the dishes, a pie in the oven.

Hector always cooked- it was just something he liked to do. Edward's treat for finishing his arithmetic that night had been a fat slice of blueberry pie, topped with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar. In one of the family photo books Hector has stashed away there is a photograph of Edward spooning a great heap of blueberries and crust into his mouth, his cheeks already stained purple with the juice. Hector often finds himself lingering on that photo, a finger tracing the impression of his son's round cheek. It was the last time he saw Edward truly happy.

April had fallen ill just a few days later.

Hers was nothing like Edward's- it was swift, and it was devastating. Her body seemed to waste away, the plump curves Hector had always appreciated dissolving into sallow skin over her bones. She coughed, and there was blood, and nothing the doctors did seemed to help. Hector grieved even before she was gone, but Edward held on to the naive hope that she would survive even as the doctors gave her less than a week to live, and when she passed he was heartbroken. Hector could hardly stand it, he had no idea how to deal with the screaming, sobbing, scratching monster Edward became after April was buried. Edward was sent to stay with Hector's mother for a few days after the funeral while Hector contemplated his loss and accepted the condolences of his coworkers and friends.

He had cried, of course, but only after everyone was gone and he was left to pack April's things, to wash the bedsheets clean of her smell. When Edward returned the only signs of his mother having ever lived were the photographs on the walls, the blanket she'd knitted thrown over the couch, and the ring still on Hector's finger. Edward refused to speak to Hector that day, sulking in his bedroom and only picking at his food. Hector couldn't blame him, and didn't push. He'd been well-behaved at his grandmother's, so there was nothing to be said.

Neither of them had spoken of it since.


End file.
